Guardrail Base

ABSTRACT

A base for a guardrail includes a base body including a receptacle for receiving and securing a part of a railing and one or more wheels coupled to the base body. The one or more wheels are configured for transportation of the base.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/249,185 filed Sep. 28, 2021, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a base for a temporary guardrail system.

Temporary guardrail systems are used in a variety of applications toprevent pedestrians and workers from traveling into dangerous areas.Examples of dangerous areas include areas with vehicle traffic (e.g.,material handling vehicle traffic) or areas where fall hazards exist(e.g., rooftops in construction sites).

Conventional temporary guardrail systems often include railings andmovable bases. To erect a guardrail, the bases are carried into place byworkers and then the railings are attached to the bases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The bases of temporary guardrail systems are generally sufficientlyheavy to ensure that a person cannot easily push a railing of aguardrail system over. But the weight of the bases poses its own dangerin that workers are required to carry or otherwise move the bases, whichcan result in physical injuries such as back injuries. Aspects describedherein are related to temporary guardrail bases that include wheels anda removable handle that encourage safe transport of the bases duringassembly, disassembly, and storage of the bases. Some aspects are alsoconfigured for compact and stable storage of the bases when the basesare not in use.

In a general aspect, a base for a guardrail includes a base bodyincluding a receptacle for receiving and securing a part of a railingand one or more wheels coupled to the base body. The one or more wheelsare configured for transportation of the base.

Aspects may include one or more of the following features.

The base body may further include a handle-receiving receptacle forreceiving a handle. The handle may be configured to move the base from afirst position where the base body lays on a surface to a secondposition where the base body is substantially off the surface andsupported by the one or more wheels. The base may include the handlereceived in the handle-receiving receptacle. The one or more wheels mayinclude two wheels and the handle-receiving receptacle may be disposedbetween the two wheels. The base body may include one or more slotsconfigured to accommodate one or more wheels of a second, differentbase. The base body may include one or more slots for accommodating anend of a toeboard. The one or more slots may include a number of slotsarranged about the base at 90-degree angles relative to one another. Thebase body may include one or more hand holds configured to accommodate auser's hand.

In another general aspect, a railing system includes one or morerailings, each railing including a first leg and a second leg, and anumber of bases, each base including: a base body including a one ormore railing-receiving receptacles for receiving and securing a part ofa railing and one or more wheels coupled to the base body, the one ormore wheels configured for transportation of the base. An end of thefirst leg of a first railing of the one or more railings is received ina first railing-receiving receptacle of a first base and an end of thesecond leg of the first railing is received in a secondrailing-receiving receptacle of a second base.

Other features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thefollowing description, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a temporary guardrail system.

FIG. 2 is a base of the temporary guardrail system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a storage configuration for bases of the temporary guardrailsystem of FIG. 1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a temporary guardrail system 100 isinstalled on a surface 102 (e.g., a rooftop) where it preventspedestrians from moving into prohibited areas (e.g., an edge of therooftop).

The temporary guardrail system 100 includes a number of railings 104supported by a number of bases 106. Each of the bases 106 includes anumber of railing receptacles 108, wheels 112, a handle 114, a handlereceptacle 116, notches 118, hand-holds 120, and wheel-nesting slots122.

The railing receptacles 108 are each sized and shaped to receive andhold a leg 110 of a railing 104. For example, the receptacles 108 arecylindrical tubes with an inner diameter sized to accommodate acylindrical leg of a railing.

A proximal end 113 of the handle 114 is received in the handlereceptacle 116. With the handle 114 installed, the wheels 112 and thehandle 114 work together to provide a mechanism for safely moving thebase 106. The handle has a length that provides leverage, helping a usertip the base 106 onto the wheels 112 with the wheels 112 holding thebase off the surface 102. Once on the wheels 112, the user can pull onthe handle 114 to move the base 106.

In general, the wheels 112 are received and held (e.g., by axles) inslots in the base 106. The wheel-nesting slots 122 are locateddiametrically opposed to the wheels 112, for and are configured toaccommodate wheels of another base when the bases are stored, as isdescribed in greater detail below.

The notches 118 are configured to receive toeboards (not shown), whichextend between the bases 106 along the surface 102. The hand-holds 120allow the user to grab the base 106 with their hands for rotating,moving, or carrying the base 106.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in some examples the bases 106 are stacked in anested configuration. In the nested configuration, each base 106, withthe exception of a base resting on the ground, rests on a lower base andis rotated 180-degrees relative to the lower base 106. As a result ofthe 180-degree rotation, the wheels 112 of the lower base align with thewheel-nesting slots 122 of the base such that the bases are nested.

For example, in FIG. 3 , a first base 106 a rests on a second base 106b. The first base 106 a is rotated 180-degrees relative to the secondbaes 106 b such that the wheels 112 b of the second base 106 b extendinto the wheel-nesting slots 122 a of the first base 106 a. As isillustrated in the figure, several bases 106 can be stacked in thisnested configuration, which saves storage space and has an interlockingeffect that increases stability of the stacked bases.

A number of embodiments of the invention have been described.Nevertheless, it is to be understood that the foregoing description isintended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of the invention,which is defined by the scope of the following claims. Accordingly,other embodiments are also within the scope of the following claims. Forexample, various modifications may be made without departing from thescope of the invention. Additionally, some of the steps described abovemay be order independent, and thus can be performed in an orderdifferent from that described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A base for a guardrail, the base comprising: abase body including a one or more railing-receiving receptacles forreceiving and securing a part of a railing; and one or more wheelscoupled to the base body, the one or more wheels configured fortransportation of the base.
 2. The base of claim 1 wherein the base bodyfurther includes a handle-receiving receptacle for receiving a handle.3. The base of claim 2 wherein the handle is configured to move the basefrom a first position where the base body lays on a surface to a secondposition where the base body is substantially off the surface andsupported by the one or more wheels.
 4. The base of claim 2 furthercomprising the handle received in the handle-receiving receptacle. 5.The base of claim 2 wherein the one or more wheels includes two wheelsand the handle-receiving receptacle is disposed between the two wheels.6. The base of claim 1 wherein the base body includes one or more slotsconfigured to accommodate one or more wheels of a second, differentbase.
 7. The base of claim 1 wherein the base body includes one or moreslots for accommodating an end of a toeboard.
 8. The base of claim 7wherein the one or more slots includes a plurality of slots arrangedabout the base at 90-degree angles relative to one another.
 9. The baseof claim 1 wherein the base body includes one or more hand holdsconfigured to accommodate a user's hand.
 10. A railing systemcomprising: one or more railings, each railing including a first leg anda second leg; and a plurality of bases, each base of the plurality ofbases including: a base body including a one or more railing-receivingreceptacles for receiving and securing a part of a railing, and one ormore wheels coupled to the base body, the one or more wheels configuredfor transportation of the base; wherein an end of the first leg of afirst railing of the one or more railings is received in a firstrailing-receiving receptacle of a first base of the plurality of basesand an end of the second leg of the first railing is received in asecond railing-receiving receptacle of a second base of the plurality ofbases.